Coming and Going

Over time I had noticed some interesting trends. There was a core group, me included, who were regulars, and then there were a variety of visitors. Visitors seemed to fall in three camps. Past group members, who got a big greeting from the leader, a mixture of the curious who lasted one or two sessions and were never seen again, and yoga girls. The last group I found interesting. Young, eager, and wearing yoga outfits, they came because meditation was a part of their yoga routine and wanted to experience more of the meditation aspect. While they always said they were glad they came, they never lasted more than two sessions and then we never saw them again. Still, there was always a steady stream.

Movies

Over time I realized that certain movies captured my thoughts on meditation. In the beginning it reminded me of "The Matrix". The concept that what we thought was real, was an illusion. "Do you want to take the one pill to keep the illusion, or the other pill to see the reality."  Stilling the mind, you realize all the constructs you have in place, which initially you assume are requirements, but later discover are non-essential. Later my thoughts shifted to movies like” Altered States” or  “Somewhere in Time.”  While I didn’t believe the idea that we could visit past lives or alternate realms while in a deep meditation, most of the class discussion was beginning to center around these experiences from other Monks.

Group Discussion

     

      On a few occasions there were group discussions at the end of class. We talked about the 5 precepts and the difficulty I had with the one about intoxicants. "I get why this interferes with meditation, and I never have a beer on the nights I come to meditate, but this is a hard one to follow", I said. The leader went on to talk about how drinking was all peer pressure. "No one drinks if they are by themselves", she said. "I beg to differ", I responded, and the group laughed.
      Next the discussion drifted into the power of meditation, or lack thereof in a large group. One of the abbots in a video had implied that natural disasters occurred when a deficit of merit existed in a certain region, or a group of people had very negative thoughts. "Really?!", I responded. "I'm not buying that." The conversation then erupted into a cacophony of varying opinions. Somehow the conversation turned to Stephen Hawking, I'm not sure how, and then came to a close. I may not have agreed with everything being said, but at least the debate was fun.

Flash

   It's another new venerable tonight. They all have their own way of conducting the class, but there is usually an introduction, then guided meditation, and silent meditation, followed by either questions or a lecture. We seem to have a small group of regulars now. Perhaps 10 people come weekly, with an additional 5 to 10 floaters and new attendees.
     This time, as I finally got into a deeper meditation, I saw a flash of light. Uhgg, there goes the leader taking pictures again. But it wasn't. Finally, I had experienced a brief flash of light, like the first time, but not nearly as joyous or as long. Still, I was grateful for the moment, since this implied I had achieved a deeper than usual meditative state and it had been a long time since my first experience.

Monks who set themselves on fire

When this question  came up, the dilemma was clear. OK, killing is bad, killing a monk is really bad, but what about a monk committing suicide? This was tricky ground. The obvious answer was that this was not good behavior. Perhaps setting yourself on fire as a protest was a bit better, than for no reason at all, but still not in alignment with the 5 precepts.
    Related to monks setting themselves on fire, there was a video narrated by a professor in which he described a monk who was in such a deep meditation he set himself on fire in the half-lotus position and held the position until he keeled over dead 3 minutes later. Great visual?! The explanation behind this amazing feat, was that he did not see himself as "being on fire", so much as he had "become the fire." It was disturbing and fascinating at the same time.

Killing

Now we were on a roll. The class suddenly came to life as the mood shifted from sedated after a 45 minute meditation, to rapt attention. "If we eat something that someone else killed, is that OK", asked another member of the class. "What if the person killed an animal to feed his family? Does that bring demerit (the opposite of the coveted merit)", chimed in someone else. The leader was both thrilled to have this much activity and overwhelmed by the response. As the conversation continued, we found out that killing a fly, while not preferred, is less damaging than killing another animal which ranked higher on the evolutionary ladder. Not surprisingly, killing a monk was the absolute worst offense you could make in your life. "What about monks who set themselves on fire", asked someone. Suddenly the room became silent. We waited for the answer...

The 5 precepts

How do you live a righteous life? Apparently there are a minimum of 5 precepts to guide you. After quizing some of the long term members on what the 5 were, and getting partial answers, the leader stepped in. "OK", she said, "The five are; killing, lying, improper sexual behavior, use of intoxicants, and ...hmmm, what was that last one? Oh yeah stealing." "No beer?", I asked. "Yes", "no alcohol", she responded. I wasn't about to ask for a clarification on improper sexual behavior, and luckily someone took up the conversation with a focus on killing. "Does that mean we should be vegetarians?" This was going to be an interesting conversation!